Which country - Spain or Germany - will win the Champions League trophy? Can Cristiano Ronaldo already celebrate the title of the most productive player of the season? Will "Wolfsburg" and "Manchester City" continue their historic journey in the strongest European club tournament? These and many more intriguing questions will be answered in a week, after the quarter-finals which start this evening come to an end.
1. Spain or Germany?
Out of the eight teams that made it to the Champions League quarter-finals, the majority - three represent Spain's "La Liga" championship, while Germany's "Bundesliga" has delegated two of its representatives to this stage. The English, French, and Portuguese leagues each have one team. Considering the theoretical possibilities, which country's club could lift the winners' trophy on May 28, Spain has an undeniable advantage - three of the strongest "La Liga" teams are representing it.
In the case of Germany, the chances are much slimmer. If Munich's "Bayern" is the favorite of its pair and is likely to easily overcome Lisbon's "Benfica" barrier, then "Wolfsburg's" progression to the semi-finals would be considered a major sensation, as they would have to face the powerful Madrid's "Real". In any case, in the next stage, Spain will definitely have at least one team less, as two representatives of the same country - "Barcelona" and Madrid's "Atletico" - will face each other in one of the quarter-finals.
2. Ronaldo - the most productive?
In great form this season, the leader of "Real", Cristiano Ronaldo, with 13 goals, is significantly ahead of his closest pursuers in the list of the most productive Champions League players. The closest to the Portuguese with eight goals is "Bayern" striker Robert Lewandowski. However, in order to surpass the best player of 2013 and 2014, he would need to score at least six more goals in the potentially remaining five matches, hoping that Ronaldo will not score even once.
3. "Barca's" double?
Last year's champions "Barcelona" and this year's are the main favorites to triumph in the strongest club tournament on the old continent. Despite losing to their closest rivals, Madrid's "Real", in the "El Clasico" held at the "Camp Nou" stadium over the weekend, Luis Enrique's team continues to firmly lead in Spain, and their solid performance in Europe only raises their odds for winning the Champions League.
4. Will we see surprises?
Almost every season in the Champions League, several "underdogs" make it to the knockout stages, for whom no one predicts a place among the 16 strongest before the group stage. This year, thanks to favorable draws, Portugal's champion "Benfica" and "Wolfsburg" unexpectedly reached the quarter-finals. The fact that they are already at this stage is a huge achievement for both teams.
However, a beautiful fairy tale can end very painfully, as today and tomorrow they will have to face particularly strong opponents, respectively - "Bayern" and "Real". Football fans and experts unanimously claim that in these pairs, the winners are clear even before the referee's whistle announcing the start of the match. However, both "underdog" teams are determined to prove that they can make a breakthrough to the European giants.
"I think we can compete with 'Real' if we don't show too much respect to our opponents. Like us, they are a team, and we have to do our best to make their lives as difficult as possible with what we have," said Wolfsburg's head coach Dieter Hecking ahead of the upcoming match against the "royal" club.
5. Will history be changed?
Although it may be hard to believe, the "Manchester City" club, which has spent huge amounts of money in recent seasons and won two "Premier League" titles, reaching the quarter-finals is the best result in the club's history so far. The same can be said for "Wolfsburg", the only difference being that the latter achieved the same result with a significantly smaller budget.
The chances of the German club to continue their historic journey are particularly slim, while Manuel Pellegrini's proteges, although they are not favorites in the duel with PSG, are much better rated by "TonyBet" bookmakers.
